The Ghaizabad police on Tuesday deployed additional personnel and maintained strict vigil in areas bordering Delhi in view of the nationwide lockdown being extended till May 3, to prevent the spread of Covid-19. They also stopped two Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses ferrying migrant workers and sent back the buses to Ghazipur, police said.
According to officials, they were apprehensive that migrant workers from Delhi would arrive at the Ghaziabad-Delhi border in hopes of catching buses from the ISBT at Kaushambi. Thousands of migrant workers had swarmed the border area on the night of March 23, after the lockdown was first announced, in a bid to board buses to their home towns in Uttar Pradesh.
“As a precautionary measure, we enhanced the deployment in border areas ad maintained strict vigil. On Tuesday evening, two DTC buses, which arrived near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border at UP Gate, were stopped by us. Each bus had about 40 to 45 migrant workers and the buses were sent to Ghazipur,” Anshu Jain, circle officer (Indirapuram), said.
“When we contacted Delhi officials, they told us that migrant workers were being shifted from Kashmere Gate to the Ghazipur shelter home. Since the buses came close to our border we stopped them and sent them back. No bus or other such vehicle will be allowed to enter the state,” she added.
When contacted, the deputy commissioner of Delhi police (east), Jasmeet Singh, said homeless people were being moved from Kashmere Gate to a shelter home in Ghazipur, east Delhi.
{{/usCountry}}When contacted, the deputy commissioner of Delhi police (east), Jasmeet Singh, said homeless people were being moved from Kashmere Gate to a shelter home in Ghazipur, east Delhi.
{{/usCountry}}“The buses were passing via the Delhi-UP border and that must have created some confusion. No bus was to enter Uttar Pradesh,” the DCP said.
The officials of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the nodal agency for providing shelter to the homeless in Delhi, confirmed that around 100 homeless persons were being shifted to a shelter in Ghazipur on Tuesday evening.
“The group is part of the 550 who were left without a place after a fire. In the evening, they were being sent to a shelter facility in Ghazipur. One should not believe in rumours. The CM has also issued a statement,” Bipin Rai, member, DUSIB, said.
On Saturday, two homeless persons had set two shelter homes on fire, after a tiff broke out between them and the civil defence volunteers over food distribution. Following the fire, the Delhi Police had written to the government informing it that the shelter homes in north Delhi’s Kashmere Gate were packed beyond capacity and that distributing food was a problem. Most of Delhi’s homeless people live in these shelters at Kashmere Gate.
Late Tuesday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had appealed to workers to travel and to wait till May 3.
“We will ensure adequate food and medicines. DTC or UP government buses are not available for you to go home. These are rumours. People may try to exploit you. Be cautious and stay wherever you are,” he had said.
Last month, tens of thousands of migrants had gathered in Anand Vihar and Kaushambi in the hope of catching buses to their home towns in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Many of them were left stranded and are lodged in shelter homes across the city.
On Tuesday, UP officials said arrangements will be put in place to shift them to their home towns.
“The revenue department has given clearance for migrant workers in quarantine facility to be sent home. This will be done once their health checkup is completed,” Awanish Awasthi, UP’s additional chief secretary (home), said.
“We are arranging buses for them. They will also be given food grains. But, they will have to remain in home isolation for 14 days. The buses will be arranged by Wednesday,” he said.
(With inputs from Delhi bureau)